Spoilers. Such spoilers.
I’m pretty sure the ending of JSA #66 is supposed to be uplifting. The nuclear family is reunited, and Dad has finally learned not to neglect his pitiful wife and needy son.
I’m also pretty sure it’s not uplifting at all, seeing as the issue is basically about three people named Hourman jockeying to commit suicide.
Hourman I wants to die because he’s pretty much dead already. He got plucked out of the time stream years ago right before he could be murdered by Extant. Now, he wants to go back and complete that moment because his reprieve is basically over, he doesn’t want to see his son throw his life away, and he doesn’t want to screw up the time stream.
Hourman II, the son of Hourman I, wants to die in his father’s place so his elderly father can spend time with Mrs. Hourman I, atoning for years of habitual neglect. This is possibly the first Reverse Oedipal Complex I’ve seen in comics, and I’m not surprised to find that it’s creepy in either direction. And what I wouldn’t pay to see the conversation that would have followed with Mrs. Hourman I if Hourman II got his way.
Hourman I: “Honey, I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is, the son you carried for nine months and saw through drug addiction and despair has killed himself. The good news is, I’m back to give you all the sweet, sweet loving I withheld during all the years of our marriage. Hot yet?”
Hourman III wants to die so Hourman I and Hourman II don’t have to, because they’re human and Hourman III isn’t. Hourman III is a futuristic android with feelings and interests, he’s formed bonds, acted bravely, and adapted to difficult circumstances, so I’m not quite sure what the distinction is, but he seems to feel strongly that he’s somehow inferior to the other two.
Hourman III wins, so Hourmen I and II get to go home to Mrs. Hourman I. I wonder about Mrs. Hourman I. Her awful husband has been dead for ages, and she seems to have made no effort to move on with her life. Of course, apparently she never cultivated any interests of her own during her empty marriage except for sobbing and low self-esteem, so this probably isn’t too much of a stretch. She also doesn’t seem to worry much when her son vanishes for weeks at a time. Now, seeing as the son is both a recovering drug addict and a super-hero, unexplained absences might be reasonable cause for concern. Apparently not.
This just doesn’t fall into any definition of “uplifting” I recognize. Maybe next issue will be better.
Oh, wait. It’s the autopsy. Never mind.